Play Dough Cookies

We made play dough cookies yesterday.  Here's the recipe.  They were simple to make and fun to shape and eat. 

We used our regular old liquid food coloring (because I was not about to go to the grocery store just for some gel paste food coloring).  The color may not have turned out as vibrant, but they're pretty just the same. 

Enjoy a little something green today. 

Happy St. Patty's to all!

Note to Self, RE: popcorn and telephones

Note to self:

When popping a bag of microwave popcorn, do not, I repeat, do not, push the four minute timer (which is about two minutes too much) and then commence talking on the phone.  You will forget that there is a ticking time bomb of exploding corn in your microwave.

Then, when you realize your serious neglect of said popcorn, stop the microwave immediately.

This next step is crucial.  Do. Not. Open the bag out of simple morbid curiosity.  It is not worth the little peek at the smoldering blackened kernels.  It will only lead to crazy smoking and stinking up of your home that will linger for days.

Your next move should not be to yell and shove the smoking bag into the closed garage.  Even though it will save your house from some of the burned scent, your garage will smell like a burning corn field for at least a week.  And that, my friends, is not pretty.

Weekend Wrap Up

A few odds and ends from the last weekend in February.

Saturday, we headed over to the Matsuri Festival (a Japanese cultural festival) in downtown Phoenix.  I have never seen so many strangely dressed people in one place.  Lots of cat-people and anime characters.  There was even a trio of adults in full Pokemon costumes (my little brother would have loved that).  I enjoyed the people watching until I realized, maybe those same fishnet, cat tailed, neon wig wearing people were thinking about how odd I was dressed.  Hmm...

Highs:

Hawaiian shaved ice (yes, that really didn't have anything to do with Japan, but it was good)
watching people play on giant drums
a samurai sword exhibition (those things are sharp)
watching a candy artist turn blobs of hot sugar and corn syrup into a dragon
smelling the awesome Japanese food
origami exhibit

Lows:

Porta Potties
Crowds
Temper tantrums

After the festival, we got food at Sonic (the Chicago dog there is awesome, by the way) and McD's for the little boys (they had Hot Wheels in the happy meals).

After putting the kiddos to bed and putting on pj's, we got a phone call just after 8pm.  It was the stake executive secretary calling to ask us to come in and visit with the stake president.  To make the story short, Mike was called to be the new first councilor in our bishopric.  That was a complete shock to us.  We were just worried that they wanted us to speak in stake conference!  He will do a wonderful job and we have already had so many people offer to help with our young children during church since Mike will now be sitting on the stand.  It's going to be a challenge and take a lot of time and energy, but I can already feel our family being blessed by this calling.

Well, that's our weekend wrap-up, a little late.  Better late than never.  I sure wish I would've brought my camera to the festival...

St. Patty's Day Ideas

Here are a few new things I've found on the web to use for some fun St. Patty's themed learning.  Hope you enjoy!

Shamrock color matching file folder game.  This one looked so simple, but it was more challenging for my three year old than I thought!  Find it here.

Another file folder game.  This one is for your kiddos who are starting to sound out words.  I'm printing this one for Mr. One (a great kindergarten game).  Find it here.

This is at the top of my to do list this week:  split pea shamrocks.  The boys will love tossing these into our kitchen pots.  I'm thinking of some other games to use them with.  Will keep you posted if I get that far...  Go here for the tutorial.

A few fun math games, better suited for the K-2 set, but I may adapt some for younger kiddos.  Find how-to's here.

I really want to do this simple color mixing experiment.  With water and not milk.  Now I just need to grab some clear plastic cups.  Here's the how-to for this activity.

Here's some ideas that I have posted in the past that you may enjoy.  Go here and here.

Now, go do something fun with the kiddos in your life.  I may be posting less for the next week or so.  I have a birthday party to plan and a brother getting married!  Good times, but busy times..

On Leaving Messages

There is a reason why I dislike leaving messages on answering machines.  Here is case in point number one:

Mr. One threw up last night.  Mr. One needs to stay home today even if he appears healthy and is presenting me with evidence of my cruelty because I won't let him eat chocolatey, sugar-filled cereal for breakfast.

When your child is sick and staying home, this necessitates a phone call to the school office to excuse the absence.

Enter the answering machine.

machine:  "This is ABC Elementary.   If you are calling about your student's absence, please leave your name, your student's name, spelling the last name, your child's teacher, date and reason for the absence at the beep."

me:  I think I need a pencil to write all of this down, what did she say again?

machine:  (a milisecond after) Beep!

me:  (trying to hide the panic in my voice)  Um, hi, this is (stating my name) calling for (Mr. One, O-N-E).  Pause.  I don't really know what the date is.  Pause.  But he's sick, so he won't be in today.  Click.  Groan.

Did I just say that?  Great, and I forgot to say who his teacher is.

If the school doesn't call back to have me substitute again I guess I will know why.

Maybe I should call back and redeem myself.  Here's how the second take might go.

machine: blah, blah, blah leave a message...Beep.

me:  Hello, this is ____ calling for (Mr. One, O-N-E) in Mrs. ___'s class.  He will be absent today, Thursday March 3rd because he threw up last night.  Just kidding about not knowing what day it is.  Even though he is running around and seems well enough to boss his brother around and argue about current breakfast choices, I will not be sending him in.   I don't want to be the mom that has to slink back to the front office at 10:17 am to pick up the child who seemed just fine in the morning when dropping him off who just threw up all over the letters M and N on the alphabet rug. 

Maybe I'll just wait until they call me back if they need more information.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Here's how we celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday at our house.

Mr. One enjoyed a day of Seuss-filled learning in kindergarten.

Mr. Two watched the Cat in the Hat marathon on PBS kids most of the morning.

We played games on Seussville.

After picking up Mr. One from school, we went over to a friend's house to play and decorate Thing One and Thing Two cupcakes.  Ours didn't turn out as cute as the original idea, but they still tasted yummy!

We ate a dinner of green eggs and ham (on an English muffin with cheese), and read the book.

Mr. One did not like green eggs and ham.

Mr. Two would not eat them in a box. 

Or with a fox.

They do not like them Sam-I-am.

Mr. Three will try them. 

And he will put them here and there...

To end the evening, Mr. One threw up. (I'll spare you the visual.)

Here's hoping next year brings even greater fun.

Some inspiration for future Seussical celebrations here, here, here, and here.

Cinnamon Sugar Babies

I admit that many mornings, I give Mr. Three a handful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch to munch on with his breakfast just he will smell yummy for the rest of the day.  Don't you just want to nibble on those cheeks?